Catnado

From the maker: "Catnado is an expression of my fascination with feline imagery in fabric. The EZ Quilting Mini 45 and Mini 60 degree Triangle Templates were sized well to fussy-cut tiger cats from a fabulous collection of Cotton + Steel fabrics. Cutting around assorted templates freed 271 tiger cats from the constraints of the original fabric so they could play in a swirling, twirling tornado.No cats were harmed in the making of this quilt."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Collection

From the maker: "In this quilt, I wanted to explore shape and color. Shape not only because of its technical role in needle-turn appliqué--one of my favorite techniques--but also because of the versatility of shape that this technique allows. I wanted to use color to tell the story of the shapes individually as well as in the overall composition. Texturally, the quilting and variety of fabrics used connect to the tactile treat of making by hand not only in the process but also in the product."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Coral Reef

From the maker: "The vibrant colors of this bicolor quilt were the perfect canvas for dense hand quilting. The quilting is improvisational, with each block inviting me to play with unique designs featuring multiple thread weights and colors."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

CPU

From the maker: "Inspired by the sponsor of the bias binding challenge, Panasonic, an electronics company this quilt is my interpretation of a circuit board. Bias binding strips were machine appliqued in conjunction with quilting. Squares and circles were hand appliqued, trapuntoed and then machine quilted around the edge to add dimension."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Cut & Keep

From the maker: "This is an appliqué quilt where the pieces are between the quilt top and the batting. I placed the pieces under the quilt top right before quilting on a longarm. I added dashed cut lines to imply a "break in case of emergency" type quilt that could be cut out as needed."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Diving Geese

From Katie: "Diving Geese evolved through my desire to create a minimalist design with no recognizable block layout. The triangular 'geese' were created using the modern crazy piecing technique and scraps. I used an angle piecing technique to bring the blocks together so that the geese would appear to be diving. I love the 'ghost geese' that Krista quilted in."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Eichler Homes

From the maker: "Eichler Homes is a Modern take on the classic house quilt. It was inspired by a poster — Mad About Modern — by Ryan DeMarco made for a Mid-Century Modern house tour in Charlotte, NC. (used with permission) Joseph Eichler (1900-1974) built most of his 11,000 homes where I grew up — around the San Francisco Bay Area. Eichler was inspired by living, for a short time, in a Frank Lloyd-Wright house in Hillsborough, CA. "Eichlers" were offered to anyone of any race or religion."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Face #1

From the maker: "After creating a large raw-edge appliqué self-portrait, I challenged myself to make a face quilt that was pieced. This image was not based on a photograph or drawing and no computers or charts were involved. I drew on my experience as a painter to improvise with fabric squares and rectangles to create the image as I would a painting. I've been making my whole life and when I finished this quilt, I cried with happiness. It's my favorite thing I've ever made."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Flight Path

From the maker: "I wanted to show a migration of Autumn colors with flying geese blocks. I drew the pattern on graph paper, and stayed almost 100% true to the drawing. The different background colors also show the different hues of Autumn. 'Along the Flight Path' is a poem that tells of the fall migration of Canadian Geese. Made with Oakshott Cottons."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Flounce

From the maker: "Flounce was inspired by the curves, delicate points, and visual impact of architecture from the Eastern hemisphere. The secondary design evokes petals and the relationship between nature and structure."

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

From the maker: "One of my favourite sources for quilt inspiration is Tilman. He is a graphic designer with a Tumblr account called geometrydaily and he creates a minimal composition based on geometric shapes every day. This quilt is based on #296 Downpour. I love how he used just two colours and two simple shapes in different frequencies to create a gradiated composition. Although I designed the quilt mathematically to have a specific number of navy and white squares and half-square triangles in each row, the position of each piece in each row is mostly random."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

I Quilt

From the maker: "At times I feel alone, but I am not. I am supported by many friends and family. These are the little "i" blocks that make up the big central "i". The other "i" blocks in the field are for all the people I have never met that support my life."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Jungle Abstractions: The Lion

From the maker: "The Lion is the first project in the Jungle Abstractions series. The creation process for my "abstractions" allows me to collide my worlds through my love of inspiration in our daily environments, my nerdy code grrl background and my deep desire to wrap everyone I love in a handmade quilt. The muse lives at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR where my husband spent his childhood running the snack shack and my children spent their childhood hanging out with amazing creatures big and small. Abstractions patterns are created through a process of original photography, 3D modeling processing and hand-drawn manipulation of pattern."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

my brother's jeans

From the maker: "The denim in this quilt is from my brother Michael's work jeans, which I rescued from the dumpster after his suicide in 2009. I improvisationally pieced the crosses, which resemble a variation on the traditional nine patch. The pale ground includes subtle gold and white crosses. Grid quilting creates echoes of the cross motif, as well as references my brother's work as a tile installer. I tucked vintage gold ribbon behind some of the tears in the denim. This quilt was a joy to work on, as I love worn materials and find beauty in forgotten and discarded things."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Night Flight no. 1

From the maker: "This quilt depicts the earth as seen from above at night in an airplane. It's improvisationally pieced using variations of the Seminole patchwork technique, which is a reminder of the affects of technology and world travel/migration. The series is named for the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and is inspired by my love of flight. Concurrently, flight is an experience that induces fear and anxiety for many, and therefore creating this imagery on a quilt is an attempt to reintroduce comfort. The horizontal hand quilting represents latitude lines, and hints at the many invisible lines humans draw on the earth."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Release the Geese II

From the maker: "In my 'Release the Geese' series, I've been exploring one classic quilt form: Flying Geese. Release the Geese II combines form, direction, color and pattern. I love the movement created with the combination of curved and straight flying geese. The curved geese are paper pieced with patterns of my own design."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Tessellation 4

From the maker: "Tessellation 4 is my fourth version of this quilt. The paper pieced pattern was designed by myself and Alison Glass. In this version I was inspired to use Vanessa Christenson's beautiful ombre' line of fabric. I used only 19 fabrics and challenged myself to create a dynamic composition with a focus on value and color. Gina Pina added another dimension to my quilt with her beautiful crosshatch quilting."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

The Other Side

From the maker: "I was thinking a lot about why we work so hard to get 'somewhere' while making this quilt. Life can feel like an uphill battle, yet we don't always pause to think about what is on the other side. Is it worth the climb? I must have been optimistic at the time because a steep climb leads to a gentle slope with increased visual interest and hand-painted fabric. The children's song 'The Bear Went Over the Mountain' was stuck in my head for weeks as I worked on this quilt."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Tilting at Windmills

From the maker: "The design for this quilt came from some block doodles I had done on the back of an envelope. I expanded on the block ideas using EQ7 and completed the quilt design. I printed foundation paper templates for the half-square rectangles (so much easier than doing the math!)."

From the makers: "A modern quilt interpretation of the iconic game of "Twister." 24 unique colored circles, made with different methods and an updated color palette. The negative space also contains deconstructed circles and the circle theme continues into the quilting with a single ghost circle stitched in metallic thread. This quilt was part of The MQG exhibit at the International Quilt Festival-Houston."

Photo by Lauren Hunt

Under the Radar

From the maker: "I wanted to design a quilt that played with concentric circles and negative space. The entire quilt is traditionally pieced, no applique was involved. The stripes were paper-pieced on giant templates so that they would line up correctly."